Beyond Meta-Analysis: Secondary Uses of Meta-Analytic Data

Abstract

Secondary uses of meta-analytic data (SUMAD) represent advanced analyses and applications of first-order meta-analytic results for theoretical (e.g., theory testing) and practical (e.g., evidence-based practice) purposes to produce novel knowledge that cannot be directly obtained from the input meta-analytic results. First-order meta-analytic results in the form of bivariate effect sizes have been used as input to such secondary analyses and applications. Given the increasing popularity of SUMAD in human resource management (HRM) and organizational behavior (OB), there is a need for a systematic review on this topic. This article has two primary goals. First, it reviews essential works regarding SUMAD in the fields of HRM/OB and provides taxonomies of SUMAD in theoretical and practical domains. Second, it introduces recent SUMAD and discusses future directions that encourage more innovative and rigorous research endeavors along this line.